The Bartender
by Ninj4Fox2020
Summary: After Akzeriuth Luke leaves on his own to the outerlands trying to forget what he had done, fortunately for him, this give's him a new lease on life. Will Luke gain the courage to face his demons and make everything right?, or fail and watch the world die.
1. A new lease on life

**Hey there folk, Ninj4Fox here! I decided to make a few changes to this story, the Bar in Daath made little since to me so I decided make a village or city that wouldn't be well known to either Kimlasca or Malkuth, more of an area that works under the grid, so expect some shady types and gangs in this story, I feel that it will help things move along smoother as I go along here.**

**Well Lets get this thing started, hope you all enjoy this one.**

** The Bartender Chapter 1 New Lease on life**

Luke stumbled across the large alleyway of an unknown city, fresh wounds littered his body, he looked thin from malnutrition, his skin was white pale from loss of blood.

The boy had traveled from Yulia city to the outer lands after he woke up from being connected with Asch, after everything that had happened with Akzeriuth being destroyed, everyone turning their backs on him, and then finding out that he was just a replica, a simple reproduction of a human being, it was all too much for the young red head, he quickly left Tears room leaving the still sleeping Mieu behind, and found a way out of Yulia city, from there he traveled far and wide searching for a place to seclude himself, hoping to forget about what had all happened, however things didn't work out in his favor as the lack of supplies and constant encounters with monsters made things difficult, after facing a powerful monster and barely escaping with his life, he managed to find himself into a large city in the dead of night.

Which brings us back to Luke's current situation, the boys vision to blurred as he walked further into the alley, his strength finally gave out on him and he fell over knocking over a trashcan.

'so this...is how I die huh?' He thought to himself, through the immense pain, he managed to smile sadly. 'I guess it's not so bad.' He thought as his vision darkened signifying that he was about to pass out, just before closing his eye, he barely caught some one walking up to him with a worried expression, he could hear the man call out to me, asking if I was okay, his eye's widened as he spotted the wounds, he called out to his friends calling for help, a second later two more people showed by and tended to him, just before he passed out, he could feel his body being lifted and carried inside, the next moment everything went black.

_''What have you done Luke?''_

''I-I didn't Know...I''

''_What you did was unforgivable, I can stand the sight of you!_''

''_Luke...Don't make me think even less of you._''

''Guy?, not you too?!, It's not my fault, it's not!

''_I was stupid to think there was any good in you._''

''NOOO!'' Luke bolted up right from the bed he was sleeping in, breathing heavily and drenched in a cold sweat, haunted by the voices in his nightmares.

''He took notice to the unfamiliar room, taking a look around, he took notice of the assortment of antiseptics and gauze on the nightstand next to the bed, looking down he saw parts of his body wrapped in gauze and other bandages.

''Where am I?'' He whispered to himself, to lost in thought to hear the quickening foot steps coming closer to the door of the room.

The door burst open revealing a middle aged man running inside the room looking panicked, this of course startled the red head making him jump and fall off the bed on to the floor.

''Oh Shit, are you okay kid?'' The man asked as he ran to the downed noble.

''Oww.'' Luke grunted still sore from the wounds he had sustained, he could fell himself being lifted up from the floor and placed back on the bed.

Luke took the chance to looked at the man who saved him, the guy looked like he was at least in his early thirties, he had a small beard the went along his chin and was attached to the sideburns on his face, he was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a white dress shirt, a gray vest was worn over the shirt, and finished off the look with a pair of expensive looking snake skin shoes.

''Are you a right kid?'' He asked worriedly.

''Yeah...I-I'm fine.'' Luke answered as he calmed his nerves.

The man signed. ''That good, I thought something had happened to you when I heard you yell from up the stairs, it's good to know your not hurt.'' The man said.

''Who are you?'' Luke asked. The man smiled.

''The names Duncan, me and the boys found you outside on the verge of death, fortunately we had a first-aid kit and managed to patch you up, you lost a lot of blood though.'' The now named Duncan answered.

Luke stared at the man before he smiled and laid back down. ''Thank you.'' He said.

''Anytime kid, what happened to you anyway?'' Duncan asked. Luke tensed a bit which Duncan noticed.

''I...Somethings happened...Some I'm not ready to talk about...Sorry.'' Luke said as he lowered his head, the bangs of his hair hiding the pain in his eyes, however the man felt the pain from the red head, and felt a bit guilty for prying.

''Don't worry about it, forget I brought it up.'' He said. ''Anyway I think It time you meet the rest of the group.''

Duncan went to the door. ''Chris!, Hiro!, Ross!, come on up here, the kid's awake!.'' He yelled, a moment later multiple foot steps could be heard coming up the stairs, it didn't take long for the men to come inside the room. They all look to be at least 21 or older.

Chris looked to be the youngest out of them, he was rather tall and slim, he wore a pair of brown slacks and a white dress shirt, he had a pair of glasses and had a bit of an educated look about him, his hair was a light brown and was styled a little combed back with one small bang of hair showed on his fore head, he looked at Luke with great relief as he saw that the red head was awake.

Hiro was also a tall man, who looked to be the second oldest close to Duncan, he was tall and quite built, though much of his clothing hid it, his shoulders was a dead give away, his face was a bit stoic and emotionless, but his eye had a certain flame behind them, put them together and you get a pretty intimidating figure, however that was all destroyed as the man looked softened as he to was relieved that Luke was okay.

Hiro wore clothing similar to Chris, only the color was a light gray, making it almost look white, the way he wore the suit was a bit more relaxed as the top button of the shirt was unbuttoned, his hair was black and slicked back. (Think of Kiryu from Yakuza, I made him similar but not the same.)

Ross was the last one, he looked to be the same age as Chris, right off the bat you can tell that the man was rather energetic and carefree, there was a certain mischievous glow to his eyes, he immediately smiled at Luke with a wide grin, somehow this seemed to rub off on the red head also as he smiled too, the man also wore formal clothing, he wore a pair of Black slacks and a black dress shirt to go with it, he had a few piercings on his ears and on his eye brow showing he had a bit of a rebellious streak.

''Hey there, names Ross Michelle, it's good to see your alright.'' Ross said to Luke still smiling. Hiro decided to greet the boy.

''Hello, my name is Hiro Uzuki, It's a relief to see that your alive.'' The deep but soft speaking man said. Chris pushed his glasses back.

And I'm Chris Myers, I was the one who patched your wounds, it's good to see that your finally awake.'' He said. ''How are you feeling?'' He asked.

''I'm still a bit sore, but I feel a little better, thank you.'' Luke said as he smiled, feeling safe with the men who saved him.

''Anytime, I'm just happy your okay.'' Chris said, he began to check Luke over to make sure the bleeding stopped, much to his relief it did, he just had to place clean gauze on the red head to prevent any infections.

''Thankfully the bleeding has stopped, I just have to remove the old gauze and clean the wounds before applying more, other than that your in the clear.'' Chris explained as he finished examining Luke.

Luke nodded, he was somehow happy that he was saved by these men, When he ventured out of his own, he wasn't against dying, he was going as far as to say that me may have welcomed it, as long as it free him from the guilt of killing thousands of innocent people, but for some reason he felt that he had some how got a new lease on life, a life that didn't remind him of his sin, of the betrayal of his most closest mentor and father figure, and finally being abandoned by those he had trusted, when he thought of this, he knew that he had no places else to go, to one to turn to, he was going to have to make a choice on what he was going to do from here on. However he would ponder on that later, for now he would stay and recuperate.

The four men helped Luke stand and removed the gauze from his body, what showed underneath made the noble a bit squeamish, there was a multitude a fresh scars, some were shallow, a few were deep enough to require stitches to close them, he had no idea that the monsters he encountered injured him that badly.

He was led to the bathroom, where they allowed him to bathe and wash off the dried blood from his scars, all the while the former noble was thinking.

'What do I do now?, I have no place else to go, I'm sure as hell not going back to Baticul, pretty sure I'll either be imprisoned or killed, and everyone else...I...i can't go back to them either, I know Guy went back for me, but...i just can stand to face him right now, not after what I did.' He thought. A few tears poured from his eyes as he thought of his best friend, he felt bad for leaving the way he did, with Guy waiting for him, but for now this was for the best. 'I'm sorry Guy...I just hope you'll forgive me when we meet again.'

After washing up, Chris reapplied fresh gauze and disinfectant, while Ross gave Luke some of his old cloths.

''Alright, your well enough to start moving around, just don't do any strenuous activity okay?'' Chris said.

Luke nodded not wanting to reopen his wounds, Ross smiled.

''Gotta admit kid, your pretty tough to survive all those injuries.'' He said. Luke frowned a little he was getting a little tired of being called kid all the time.

''Luke.'' He said.

''Huh?'' Ross asked confused.

''My name is Luke.'' the red head said.

''Oh okay, Not a bad name.'' Ross said with a smile, Luke couldn't help but smile as well.

Duncan called from down stairs telling everyone that dinner was ready, everyone went down to the lower level, the moment Luke reached the bottom floor he was instantly hit with a heavenly aroma, he couldn't explain it, it was almost was good as the smell when the royal chef makes a feast, however some how the smell was slightly different, like a different type of food, it made the red head curious as to what he was going to eat this night, looking around he found the place was a huge diner almost like luxury restaurant, on another part of the Bar was a large bar with rows upon rows of large alcoholic beverages, he had heard from guy about places like these, where people would come to have a good time, from enjoying time with friends, to simply drinking and relaxing after a hard day.

'So these are the places Guy talked about, it's kinda nice, think I like it.' He thought.

Luke and the others took a seat at the table waiting for Duncan, a moment later the man came out the kitchen with plates on a large circular tray, placing the tray in the center of the table he smiled.

''Heh heh, decided to do my special for tonight, thought Luke here may like it.'' He said.

''Alright!, dude I always love the steak house specials!.'' Ross yelled excitedly, Chris and Hiro smiled showing that they also had a great liking to Duncan's special menu, Luke looked at the food strangely, he had seen something like this before, but couldn't exactly remember what it was, it was when he was reading another catalog when he was curious about the outside world, suddenly another flash back hit him. The book he had looked at was a cooking catalog, there was a certain food called the Hamburger that caught his interest, reading that this food could made into a nice gourmet meal depending on how you make it, there was at one time when he asked if he could try one, however due to the dumb ideologies of royalty that was shot down, it was one of the times where Luke basically admitted that being royalty absolutely sucked.

Luke took a look around and saw the others digging in, observing how they ate the food, he figure that it was much easier to use his hands instead of a knife and fork, taking up the burger he took his first bite. Luke's eyes widened as the flavor of the burger exploded in his mouth, he couldn't describe what this taste was, he just knew that it was heavenly, for some reason he could tell that everything went together perfectly, the onion, tomato, lettuce, the mayonnaise and mustard, the meat, everything he could taste in the meal just somehow seemed right, he didn't noticed everyone looking at him amused.

''Wow Luke, if I didn't know better, I'd say this is the first time you've ever had a meal like this before.'' Duncan said happy that Luke was enjoying his special.

Luke finished chowing and swallowed the food. ''This IS the first time I've ever tried this.'' Luke answered. ''I've heard about this before from an old friend of mine, but I never tried it...My family were kinda stingy about what food they eat.'' He explain.

''Like much of the upper class or Royalty huh? Ross asked. Luke nodded. ''Tch figures, they have no idea what their missing out on.'' He finished before he started eating again.

They others agreed, Luke couldn't help but agree with the man's argument, he noticed that Royal families tend to miss out on a whole lot more that others when their so use to getting everything, In a way he was kinda of happy that he wasn't of the Royal family, despite there could have been better way for the news to come out, but he was happy that he got away from that, he didn't need to be more stuck up and stingy than he already was.

Everyone ate in silence the rest of the time until the plates were clean, and everyone sighed in satisfaction with full stomachs, Ross seeing that it was the perfect moment, decided to start some small talk to get to know Luke better.

''So Luke, where exactly did you come from anyway?'' He asked. ''What with you said earlier, you made it sound like you came from an upper-class family.'' He said

Luke thought for a moment, he couldn't tell them the truth about what happened, especially when he's still reeling from the whole situation, for now he would have to bend the truth a bit, and hope for the best.

''Yeah, I came from a rich family in Baticul, apparently they were close friends with the king, I always had high expectations put on my shoulders, and I really couldn't hang out with the people I wanted to since they disapproved of them, well my father truly didn't, my mother was more neutral on the aspect.'' Luke explained.

Duncan and the other nodded having know about the detestable attitudes and customs of the rich and royalty, it was something they hated with a passion due to countless people suffering due to said customs and selfishness.

''This is why I never trust the royal families, they always think that common people are below them, and never do anything for them, it's usually those people with that mindset become tyrants.'' Chris said the others nodding in agreement.

''So what made you leave?'' Ross asked. Luke sighed.

''I just couldn't stand it anymore, the burdens, the mannerisms, and then the forced marriages just for them to save their wealth and reputation, all it was doing was just destroying me, I couldn't imagine myself getting married to some stuck up princess, the thing they valued was something I grew to hate immensely.'' Luke finished.

Duncan smiled. ''Well since you ran away, you pretty much have no place to go to right?'' He asked, Luke nodded.

''Well why not stay here with us?'' He asked. We pretty much own this place, the club, and all, we got plenty of rooms, and we could always use some extra help.'' The man explained

Luke looked surprised for a moment then smiled, he didn't expect the man to offer him a place to stay, he was thinking of leaving after he had recovered, but he was offered asylum, not wanting to look the gifted horse in the mouth, he made his decision.

''Yes, I would be happy to.'' Luke answered. Everyone smiled at the red head, happy that they could get an extra addition to their team.

''Well Luke buddy, welcome to the Serena Bar, good to have you with us!'' Ross said as he warped his arm around Luke's shoulder. Luke looked around to find everyone smiling welcoming his with open arms, he didn't know that a few tears began leaking out of the boys eye's.

For him it was more than just being saved, given food, or given permanent asylum, for him it was being welcomed, being accepted.

**And Finished, sorry if there weren't too many changes, but I decided not to change to o much on the first chapter, however the real changes will start on the remake of the second chapter, the name of the city will be revealed, and I will probably add to Luke hidden talents, I think that will be all for now.**

**Also I've been thinking of when and how Luke would reunite with the others in the story, all I know is that it will happen fairly early, so if any are able, please help me with this, remember the suggestions will be on when and how Luke will encounter the group again.**

**Anyway I have to apologize to you all for the long unannounced break I've been taking, things were starting to get a little overwhelming for me after a while and I needed a little break to gt my head on right and focus on one story, plus work as rather busy and I barely had the time, but since things have calmed down and I'm getting a better paying job soon, I got some to time to do this.**

**Also I will most tell you all of more changes and the references I got them from on the notes before I start the second chapter, I have a feeling you'll like this one, since this will give Luke a rather large backbone in this story, others might figure it out immediately, if you do congrats.**

**Well, it's time for me to get goin, Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, just so you know I only made slight edits to the same first chapter I did a while back, but the second chapter will be totally different. Alright, until next time, This is Ninj4Fox sighing off.**

**Ja Ne.**


	2. Training and Talents

Hey guys!, NinjaFox here giving you guy another chapter to the new story The Bartender.

I know the first chapter I really short, but I kind of intended it to be, which is why I'm doing two chapters on one day, and since I got the first chapter out of the way, I can really get into making this story come to like, this may have a small time skip possibly close to a month later, and in that time a lot of things may happen.

So I'm pretty much getting some coffee made, and I going to try and get this chapter done, by tonight, if not then maybe over 90% of it done, wish me luck everyone, and for those of you who may have some of these questions I will answer them now.

1\. Luke will still use his sword, however he will also teach himself how to subdue his opponent non lethally, as he will detest using his sword until absolutely necessary.

2\. This will be more of a canon Luke personality changing into an ooc character, you'll see in this chapter and in later chapters.

will be a pairing with in this story, for this one, I let you all decided which pair it should be, Sexual preference does not matter as you all may know how I am about that anyway.

Well that's about it, oh also I have a request, if any one of you are good at art, I would like for someone to make a picture of Luke's new looks from my fanfictions, I would do them, but I suck, I mean really suck at drawing the most I could do are faces, if anyone could do this I would be much appreciated.

Anyway I think it's time I got this started, so sit back, relax and, enjoy.

Luke:The Bartender

Chapter 2

Training and Talents

Nearly a month had passed since Luke had run away from Yulia city and accepted by the owners of Serena Bar, things were finally looking up for the red head ever since Akzeriuth, Luke started out helping with a duties of the Bar, at first his duties were cleaning the dishes, it was easy enough for him, and it kept him busy as the flow of customer would get a little much at certain days during the week, over time the red head began taking on more duties in the Bar, from serving food to serving drinks behind the bar, Duncan even began training him in culinary arts, much to the man's happiness Luke took a shine to the Bartender job, so Duncan began training Luke in mixing drinks.

However despite this, everything wasn't all good for the red head, there were at time where he would have recurring nightmares of Akzeriuth, waking him in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, even though it didn't happen often, it was enough to made the others notice, although while worried, they didn't pry, knowing it was still too painful for Luke to talk about his past.

Another thing Luke decided to do was train, just because he had a new home, didn't mean he would slack off, he still trained himself when ever he had the chance, however he didn't seem satisfied with just training with his sword, he detested killing, it was something that he would do if it was a last resort, but he wanted to learn to fight with out resorting to such matters, he expressed this to Hiro when the man watched him train, fortunately the man was a trained martial artist himself and had scroll that was given to him by his old master before he left, he allowed Luke to look over the scroll and choose what he wanted to learn, out of all of them he went with a style that was called Tae Kwon Do a style of fighting that mostly utilized quick and powerful kicks.

So began Luke's training, since the red head already had great body conditioning and stamina, the most he had to work with was flexibility, so for the first few weeks was centered around intense stretching exercises, which were quite painful in his opinion, once he was up to standard, Hiro trained the red head in balance and the basic kicks, Hiro decided to leave Luke to his own devices in the training, when Luke asked why, the man had told him.

_''In order for you to master the art, you must learn to add your own attacks into the style, I taught you the basics, but now it's your turn to make your own personal style.''_

Luke took that advise to heart and was hard pressed on finding out what he could use to add to his style, it didn't take long for him to figure it out as he was put to the test when a few customers decided to cause a little ruckus in the club, this was one of the down sides of the club, some customers would have too much to drink and start trouble for others, not wanting to involve the knights, Duncan and the others always took care of it of their own, by literally beating the crap out of them before throwing them out.

It was on one of those nights that he was put to the test as a few people coming to drink their woes away began to cause trouble for some of the other customers.

Flashback:

Luke was tending to the bar for the second night the job was given to him, and so far things were going great, he didn't know that Duncan watched him proudly as he worked.

'The kids doing this like a natural pro, at this rate things will start picking up.' He thought as he went back to his cooking.

''Alright, iced Bloody Mary, just like you ordered, enjoy.'' Luke said to the customer.

''Thanks.'' The man said happily as he was having a good time after a long day of work.

''Anyone else?'' Luke asked. ''Cold beer over here!'' One customer called from the far end of the bar.

''Got ya!.'' Luke said as he dug out a glass bottle of cold beer from the barrel of ice, he placed it on the bar table and slid it down to the customer, who caught it.

''Thank Buddy!'' The man said as he raised his bottle in gratitude, Luke nodded back at the man and was about to begin taking more orders, until he heard a scream.

Looking up to see where the scream came from he instantly caught sight of something that made his blood boil, a drunken customer was harassing a female customer and was trying to cop a feel, the woman tried to break free of the mans grasp, but the man was too strong for the woman's small body, the girl scream and cry for the man to let go, but only did so in vain as the man was too drunk to listen, having enough Luke vaulted over the bar and walked towards the man and his band of thugs who were laughing at the girls misfortune, many of the customer looked at the red head scared for his life as the man was a notorious bandit thief who was known for being extremely violent and sadistic when angered, however Luke didn't know that, them man frequented the bar a number of times, and Duncan didn't pay no mind, just as long as he didn't cause problems. The man laughed as he saw the girls distress as she tried to get away, only to pull her back.

''Hey!'' A voice called out. Everyone else stopped they activities and looked at Luke, the red head walked forward calmly.

''I can understand you guy's are having a good time, and I'm not really against it, but I would appreciate it if you didn't harass the other customers here, it bad for business.'' Luke said calmly as he stop in front of the man, the woman looked happy that Luke came to save her, taking the chance she mustered all of her strength and pull as hard as she could, the man who still held on was caught off guard and pulled from his chair causing him to fall to the floor letting go of the woman, this caused the crowd to roar in laughter at the man's misfortune.

Luke smirked a little as he saw this, ' serves him right.' He thought. This smirk dropped as the man looked up and glared at Luke.

''You just had to go and ruin my fun didn't you.'' The man growled out causing everyone to stop laughing.

''Sorry, but I hardly think harassing a lady is what you call fun.'' Luke answered a bit harshly. ''Now if your going to cause more trouble for everyone here, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.''

This seemed to anger the man even more, getting up he glared even harder at the red head, however Luke didn't back down.

''You have any idea who the fuck your dealing with?, Do you?!'' The man asked. Luke scoffed.

''No I don't.'' Luke said. ''and I really don't care, all I know is that you and your band of thugs are really turning out to be bad for business, so I'll again would you please leave?''

''Why you little shit.!'' The thug yelled as he swung at Luke, the red head quickly dodged the first punch, getting angrier the man tried again only to get the same result, he swung one last time, Luke dodged to the side and lifted his foot tripping the mad drunk as he stumbled forward and hit the ground face first.

The other men who were sitting with the drunk stood from their seat's some glaring at Luke, other looking at their supposed leader in worry, the man growled in frustration and humiliation.

''I hope your prepared to die you little punk.'' He said as he got up. ''Alright boys, lets fuck him up!.'' He yelled. The other men glared at Luke ready to fight. Luke simply stood his ground.

One thug charged the red head and went for a hard haymaker, Luke dodged quickly dodged, seeing an opening his countered with a snap kick to the mans head effectively knocking him out. The next moment more other the thug's charged looking to avenged their comrade.

Luke using his experience from fight against multiple bandits or Oracle Knights quickly dodged using his great speed and countered with strong kicks knocking out more of the thugs. One thug grabbed him from behind, while another attacked from the front, Luke countered as he kicked the attacking thug in the gut stunning him, and then in the face knocking him out, he then broke out of the grab by lifting his leg and kicking the man in the head causing him to let go in pain, using this moment Luke kicked the man in the chin knocking him out before he hit the ground.

One more tried to attack the red head, however Luke dodged to the side, using the momentum from the dodged he used a spinning back kick across the thugs face sending the man to the ground also unconscious.

One by one, Luke was taking out all of the attacking thugs, all the while the customers were cheering him on enjoying the fight, finally there was only one left as Luke just finished taking out the last of the leader subordinates, the leader now fully sober pulled his knife out and went to stab the red head in the back while he wasn't looking, sensing danger Luke turn around and on instinct dodged out of the way of the knife so fast that it seemed like a blur, Luke then kicked the knife out of the thugs hand and kick the man in his chest sending him back crashing into the wall, noticing the knife coming back down, he snatched it out of thin air and threw it towards the thug leader, the man screamed and closed his eye waiting for pain, only the pain didn't come, opening his eye's he say the knife imbedded into the wall just an inch from his face, looking at Luke he can see the boy glaring him with dead green eye's, those eye's gave him chills, those were the eye's of someone who killed before and went through hardships, and the guy was no afraid to resort killing if he had to. Looking around he found his men still on the ground alive but groaning in pain, he knew then that they had just got off lucky.

Taking what was left of his dignity, he called for his men, who were now waking up, they limped out of the bar still groaning in pain from they beating they took, the leader turned back and looked at the red head before he took left the bar, there was silence for a few seconds before the watching crowed roared in celebration, they cheered for him as he walked back to the bar to resume his job, all the while some people were patting him on the shoulder for a good show, the woman he saved gave him a nice peck on the cheek for his good deeds which made him blush hard, once he reached the bar he saw a smiling Duncan on the other side.

''Nice work out there Luke, it's been a long time since I've seen such a once sided battle like that, and against multiple people no less.'' He said. Luke blushed rubbing his head.

''It's nothing, I just tried to do the right thing.'' He said. Duncan laughed.

''No need to be so modest, you did a good thing, and I'm happy you did.'' Duncan said. The man looked at his watch and saw that they only had thirty minutes before closing he decided to do a little something for the customers.

''Hey Luke since it nearly closing time why not give out the rest of the drinks for free, I'll help out here since I always stop cooking thirty minutes before closing time.'' He said. Luke nodded and cleared his throat.

''Okay everyone, since we only got thirty minute to closing all drinks are on the house!'' He announced out loud.

The crowed roared at the charged the bar, Luke and Duncan began pulling out all of the cold beer from the barrel and giving to the waiting customers, It was a good night for everyone, inwardly Luke was happy, not from taking out the thugs, but he had finally found out what he was going to incorporate into his fighting style.

Flashback End:

Ever since then Luke trained his style, using his speed and agility to complement his kicks, (Think of Shun Akiyama of Yakuza 4).

As time went on Luke found out that he had more abilities and talents than just his speed.

Another Flash Back: Two days ago.

I was another busy night at the bar Serena as Luke gave out drinks to the Customers, there was a large group of people playing a game of darts, so far one man was winning having make nearly perfect throws to the bulls eye, however he just missed the target and hit the part closest to the center, the crowed cheered as the man celebrated another win.

''Ah hahaha!, That's ten in a row, is their no one else here who can give me a challenge?!'' The man yelled.

No one stepped forward, Luke just smirked as this was a recurring thing, the man was a frequent comer to the bar, and he always played a game of darts, the man was on a huge winning streak, the man turned to Luke.

''Alright then if no come up, then I issue a challenge to the new Bartender!'' He yelled surprising Luke.

''What?'' He asked. The man smirked. ''Come on, we all say how you throw that knife at that thug a few weeks ago, you must have some pretty sharp accuracy to hit the wall just an inch from his face.'' He said.

Luke looked at the customers and saw so many of them cheering him on and calling him to step up, he looked at Duncan who was watching, the man shrugged.

''It good to have fun with the Customers sometime, why not give it a shot.'' He said. Luke smiled and walked from behind the bar counter and approached the dart board, the challenger handed Luke the Darts.

''You go first.'' He said. Luke nodded and aim, the whole bar went quiet. Unknown to everyone Luke's eyes pupils shrunk as he focus on the target, the red head threw the first dart it went straight forward hitting the bulls-eye dead center, everyone including the challengers eyes widened as they saw this unable to believe that Luke just hit the mark dead center with 100% pin point accuracy, the people whispered amongst one another as they saw the boy pull off an amazing feat.

''Holy Shit, did you see that?'' One man whispered.

''Yeah, I just can believe this right now.'' Another answered, he pondered for a moment. ''Maybe it was just a lucky shot, let's see what he does with the other two shots.'' He said. Luke paid not mind as he was still in a complete focused trance, the boy let the second one fly, and just like the first flew straight into the center hitting a bull's eye yet again, this caused the same reaction with in the crowed yet again, the challenger looked Luke completely stumped, he saw the boys eye's and gasped, the pupils were shrunk and dilated, it almost kind of reminded him of an eye of a hawk, they were completely focused on the one target. Luke finally let the last one go, and hit the center bull's eye for the last time, stunning the crowed.

''Unbelievable…'' One man said, the other started to agree, the next moment the crowed began to cheer for Luke for a great show of talent, the challenger turned to Luke who seemed to snap out of his trance the moment he heard the crowd, and conceded defeat, normally he would be devastated about losing his streak, but for some reason he felt actually happy that he last it to Luke, he shook the boys hand conceding defeat and congratulated him, Luke not used to being applauded by an audience, just blushed and chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.

Duncan and the other watched amazed and nearly dumbfounded, Luke just pulled off something that by all means should be impossible, when Luke threw the dart, gravity didn't seem to have any affect on the small object, it flew right into the board like a knife had been thrown, and each hitting dead center, they new friend was turning out to be full of surprises, they couldn't help but wonder what else he could do.

'If Luke keep entertaining the crowd like this, I think our popularity might sky rocket.' Duncan thought.

After everything calmed down, Luke went back to work, the man went along with him ordering a drink as he reached the bar.

''I'll take a nice Crown Royal on the rocks.'' He said.

''Comin right up.'' Luke said as he brought out a small glass, ice and the large bottle of the whiskey, as he was making the beverage the man decided to strike up a conversation.

''Kid, that was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, I never seen eye so sharp, I mean I got sharp eye myself, but you seem to be at another level.'' Luke chuckled a bit.

''My eye were always like this, I never really though it was a big deal, all that I knew was that I could always see very far into the distance, and if I tried and focused I could lock in on someone from a distance.'' Luke explained. The man nodded. ''But kind of annoying though, when I focus, I get a strange sense.

''Hmm, that's always a down side of people who can focus in at a long range, even for me, back when I was younger, was captain of an Oracle Knights battalion, I was the best archer of the force, every shot I made, it their mark nearly dead center, even when I started using cross bows and guns to hit my foes at a longer range I never missed a shot, you have that same kind of potential even greater than mine, that's why I would like to help you improve and learn to utalize your talent.'' The man explained.

Luke stayed silent as he contemplated on the mans words, he found that the man had a good point, the extreme depth perception could come in handy, he knew that at some point he was probably going to have to face his past, and more than likely come across Van, and he needed to be prepared for it.

Alright, I'll do it.'' Luke said looking determined, The man smiled, he saw the fire in Luke's eyes, one that reminded him of himself in his younger days.

'This kids gonna go far.' He thought. ''Great, I have a house at the very back of Daath, it's great for training since my back yard is pretty much the very plains just outside the town, I got plenty of training gear that will help you with your abilities.'' He said. The man looked at his watch and saw how late it got.

''Well, I better go in for the night, see you tomorrow kid.'' He said as he walked towards the exit.

''The names Luke by the way.'' Luke called. The man stopped, looked over his shoulder and smirked.

''Luke...nice name, it's got some strength to it, Names Michael, my friends call me Mike, we'll get things started tomorrow alright?'' He said. Luke nodded, Mike walked towards home, leaving Luke to his work, wondering what he was in for the next day.

Flash Back End

The training Luke went through was rather tough as Mike had Luke try to focus in and out in quick intervals, he was told that focus not only help hit targets from long distance, but it also help find weak spot in armor and would allow him to make lethal and non lethal attacks, not only did this help with Luke throwing skill, but also gave him and extreme amount of accuracy with his sword, along with this Mike had him learn the body anatomy showing Luke which points to hit in the body. Luke was happy about this since he didn't like killing, and with the knowledge he gained, he could fight with out much casualties coming out of it in the end.

The last and final part of the training was the speed training, Luke had to learn to use his focus more quickly, this would allow him to spot weaknesses in a split second before he would act, as Luke got better he could spot weak spot on multiple enemies at one time.

This took at least a month for Luke to complete the training and master his focusing abilities, and became incredibly proficient in knife throwing. Along with the training, Luke had finally began making new strike artes to add to his new fighting style, right now had had at least three new artes in his arsenal using his kicks, and two involving his knife throwing skills. (I'll most likely list them at the bottom). However there was one final talent Luke had under his sleeve.

Luke was polishing the Bar after busy night, thing were getting more lively in after Luke began working there, his talents were really pulling in more customers, nearly every night he would be challenged to a game of darts, or Billiards, which he won every time, in just a few weeks, the boy became the main attraction of the place, which Duncan and the others appreciated immensely, since they were having money troubles in the past trying to keep the Bar open, with Luke entertaining the crowed, it was beginning to gain some steady revenue.

As Luke continued, he noticed that the polish had finally ran out. ''Hey Duncan, where do you keep the extra polish?!'' He yelled out.

''Try the storage, it's in the far back.!'' Duncan answered.

''Got it.!'' Luke said as he walked towards the storage room, once he got there he opened the door and walked inside, it was rather a large room filled with extra supplies, after a short time searching he found it, taking out a bottle he didn't notice the other one slipping out along with it nearly hitting him on the head. Luke quickly dodged the bottle causing it to his the large object that was covered.

The bottle hit the object which made a strange sound that was very familiar to him, curious he picked up the bottle and pushed the same spot where the bottle had landed, the sounded came again, he pushed it a few more time which made the same sound.

''That's the sound of a key.'' He said to himself. Luke grabbed the cover and removed the cover revealing a piano, the instrument a pitch black, with gold trims along part of it, it still looked brand new, like it's been barely touched, everything was intact. Luke thought back on his time in Baticul when he took an interest in playing the piano after he had seen one of his personal maid play when he was younger, he had asked her if she could teach him, and she willingly agreed, he was trained for a few years until the maid passed away due to an illness, Luke mourned for her due to him becoming close to her when she was teaching him, however he had learned enough to carry on and continued to play. He examined the piano for a few seconds before he noticed a musical book on the stand just above the keys, thankfully due to his lessons he could still read music, he sat in the chair rolling up he sleeves and began to play, the notes from the piano echoed beautifully through out the room.

Duncan, Chris, Hiro and Ross who were just finishing up cleaning the place, stopped as they heard the music play, they immediately knew it was the piano that was stored in the back room, they listened and couldn't help but feel calmed by the melody of the music, they all dropped what they were doing and walked towards the storage room, what they saw surprised them, Luke was so into the music, that he didn't notice them, his face had a bit of a tranquil look as he moved to the music, he felt as though that his soul was being cleansed of all the troubles that plagued him, he felt that he was putting his heart and soul into the song, once he was done he was startled by the sound of clapping, looking up he saw Duncan and the others applauding him for his performance.

''Your just full of surprises aren't ya.'' Duncan said smiling. Luke blushed a little scratching the back of his head. ''You really played that like a pro, I'm impressed.

''Thanks, I haven't played it in a little while, but I still remember how to read music, so I just decided to give it a try.'' Luke said. Ross walked in with a smile.

''Now, I have someone to play music with, I do music myself, I just haven't played since there wasn't enough people to play, but now that we got you, we might be able to put on a few duet's together.'' He said excited at the prospect of playing music again, Luke liked the idea, he wondered how it felt to play in front of an audience, nodding he accepted Ross idea.

''Sounds good.'' Chris said, ''It could pull in more customers, this will shoot our popularity through the roof.'' Duncan liking the idea spoke.

''Alright then, tomorrow we'll pull out the instruments and set them up on the stage.'' He said. The other agreed as well, exiting the room, Luke went back to finish up putting the finishing touches on the bar, once finished he went to his room, and tuned in fro the night, before he could get to sleep he heard a knock at his door.

''Come in.'' Luke said. The door opened and Ross walked inside.

''Hey Luke sorry to bug ya like this when it's so late, but I wanted to tell you a few things. He said with a sheepish smile, Luke just waved it off.

''It's alright.'' He said, ''so what do you want to talk to me about?'' Ross smiled.

''Well since you taking bigger roles in the Bar, I've decided that it's time we give you some new digs, something that will give you some class and style while your working the Bar or stage, so I've decided to take you cloth shopping after we set up the stage.'' Ross explained.

''Sound's good to me.'' Luke said with a smile. Ross nodded happy that his friend easily accepted.

''Alright then, I'll let you get some sleep, were gonna be busy tomorrow.'' He said walking towards the door., he turned back around. ''Me and you buddy, were gonna rock this place.'' He said before exiting the room closing the door behind him.

Luke was left to his thoughts, the prospect of playing the piano again, in front of an audience filled him with excitement as well as making him a bit nervous, he honestly couldn't wait, he finally went to sleep dreaming of what awaited him the next day.

**Somewhere else in a hotel**

Guy, Tear and the rest of the group were staying in a hotel for the night in a small village, after they had learned of Van's plan, they were about to go their own separate ways, however they were found by both Guy and Tear once they exited the caves in on the other side of Belkend, They had told them that Luke had disappeared.

Right off the bat a few of them expressed their feeling about the matter, Asch by simply scoffing and insulting his replica for being an idiot, Anise simply didn't care, Ion was greatly worried for his friend and wanted to look for him, which drew some scrutiny from Anise, Natalia despite having Asch with her was a little worried, she might have found her real love, but she also realized that she saw the replica as more of a brother, and lastly Jade, while not showing it, was a little bothered, not that he cared, he was worried of Luke would do if he didn't keep a close eye on him.

Either way, they decided to look for him while trying to find ways to stop Van, Jade addressed his concerns of Luke loosing control of himself again and what it could cause, this was enough to convince everyone, some albeit reluctantly to look for the wayward red head.

Guy sat on the bed thinking back on what happened in Akzeriuth, he couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that crept up on his soul, for some reason he felt that blaming the whole incident on Luke was not the right thing to do, sure the boy may have caused the land to be destroyed, but when he thought about it, he still remembered that Luke was still learning the truth notions of right and wrong, it was due to his lack of knowledge that Van used Luke to do something that he truly didn't understand, when it came down to it, Luke was more like a toddler with a lot of power, who could easily be manipulated and molded into what anyone wanted him to be, and that's what Van did, Van molded Luke into a weapon that had no true understanding of what he really did.

''Did Luke really deserve this?, to place all of the blame on him?'' He asked himself, he didn't notice someone at his door listening to him.

''No...He doesn't.'' A voice said from behind him causing the blond to jump, he turned around to find Tear at his door, she held a rather guilty look on her face.

''He didn't deserve that...Guy...what have we done?'' Tear asked.

''We wrongfully blamed someone who didn't know any better, that what we did.'' Guy answered equally guilty, this made Tear feel worse, she had heard about Luke unwavering devotion to Van from Natalia, that conversation got her thinking of what Van did the whole time, piecing it together she realized their mistake, no one never took Luke ignorance or his devotion to Van into serious consideration, however after everything that had happened, she was finally beginning to see how far Luke went for him masters acceptance and praise. Van had molded Luke into what he wanted, a loyal weapon who barely knew anything about real life, or right from wrong, or more like Luke was really thinking that he was doing the right thing, this his Tear like a ton of bricks, now Luke was gone possibly dead because of what they've done to him.

The two looked out the window, hoping that Luke was okay and still alive, and hoping that he would forgive them when they do find him.

'Luke...I'm so sorry.' They both thought as they silently prayed for the red head before they went to bed that night.

And done. Whew! Man, finally finished, and just like I promised this chapter is longer that the first, and hopefully had a little more detail, sorry if I didn't explain the training too much, I really didn't feel like writing all of the training method down to the very detail, that would take a long time, and I kinda have a job so I don't have that much time to write all of the training anyway.

Well now that thing's are good here, let go into detail of what you guys can help me with.

First off, the pairings, as I said in the first chapter, I need help with pairings, and so I'm letting you decide, remember the rules and it will go fine.

Second as you know I gave Luke a new fighting style, and so I've been wondering, should I let Luke stop using the sword and let him rely on kicks and knives?, or should I give him a different primary, I'll let you be the judge on that.

Okay, that's about it, I hope to hear your response in the reviews, and it's time for me to go.

This is Ninj4Fox signing off until then Ja Ne


	3. The bartender Authors Notes

Author's Notes

The Bartender

Hey Folks, NinjaFox here just giving you this update, on a work in progress, the Bartender, been working of the story for a bit since i decided to a a rewrite starting with the second chapter, i have been trying to do as much work on it as possible while i have a job, fortunately have have a little more time off and i may have a little more time to work on the stories for now until i get called in.

Anyway, the reason why i'm doing this note is because i'm kinda stuck, the story is progressing, it's just that i'm lost as to what style of fighting i will give Luke, i was going to go with retaining his sword style and he learns more as time goes on, but i decided against it as in this story Luke will have a deep hatred for Van for the man's deception and being fooled the whole time, so he decides to never use the sword style ever again, and go for something new.

The new fighting style is what i'm stuck on, i have a few in mind, but i can't seem to just choose one.

To solve this problem i decided to give you the viewer a chance to vote on which one i should give to Luke, here are the list's i thought of.

1\. This fighting style i thought of from watching a few anime and and playing a favorite game of mine, the names, one piece and Team fortress 2, i wanted Luke to utilize kicks like Sanji does, and mix it together with using knives that would be hidden with in his shoes, and cufflinks of his suits that he may be wearing, he will also be able to through them and hit his target nearly 100% of the time as he will have nearly god like depth perception.

This could make Luke a little bit darker and edgier as he won't have much qualms with killing people, and the relationship between the group will be a bit shaky at first for this reason as they won't like how he's changed for a bit.

second fighting style is one from my favorite arcade to console video games, The King of Fighters, the Character's fighting style i decided to give to Luke was Robert Garcia's variant of Kyokugen Karate, this will allow him to utilize Chi as another form of power, this will allow him to to launch chi blasts from his hands and feet and enhance his punches and kicks.

This route will make Luke less willing to kill unless he has to and a little bit more disciplined, in turn make the relationship between the group a little more smooth, but at the same time Luke won't waste his time trying to earn forgiveness from those who won't give him a second chance, so hell be a bit neutral.

His personality will change a lot also, he will be a bit more easy going and Nonchalant for some situations, and his perception of the will will be pretty gray after Akzeriuth and his experience with in Vanity City.

So his quest to stop Van will be less about gaining forgiveness and more of Saving the world and personal closure.

Well I Think That's it for now, please all of you let me know your thoughts as i work on the fanfics, hopefully i will get a lot of good responses by tonight.

Well it's time to get started, hope you all will continue to support me.

This is Ninj4Fox signing off, Until Next time Ja Ne!


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